Station Review #157: Eddystone (SEPTA)


Eddystone is a SEPTA Regional Rail station located at East 7th Street and Saville Avenue in Eddystone, PA. This station is a flag stop for the Wilmington-Newark Line. Eddystone is by far the least used station on the Wilmington-Newark Line and for the entire SEPTA Regional Rail network as a whole. Eddystone is unsurprisingly also a flag stop. 

History


    Eddystone station was most likely built in the 1870s, named after the Eddystone Print Works, which relocated there from Philadelphia in 1876. Said print works were named after the Eddystone Lighthouse near Plymouth, UK. In the 1890s, Eddington became an incorporated borough. Saville Avenue near the station was named after the man who founded the borough's wife's maiden name, in honour of her.  
    The height of this station was in the early 1900s, when the famous Baldwin Locomotive Company was established and had a factory very close by. At its peak, this factory produced millions of rifles for World War 1, as well as thousands of locomotives. While the factory had its own station, many people lived nearby and used Eddystone as well. When the Baldwin Factory closed, Eddystone station never recovered. 
    In 2011, SEPTA tried to close the station and instead was asked to update the station to possibly increase ridership. The entire station was overhauled yet still not made accessible. To no one's surprise, this did not work. Nothing has changed since. 

Tour

Eddystone is the exact opposite of accessible. The only reason the rails technically aren't above the platforms is because the train crews attempt to stop the train in a way where the steps line up with the doors. 

Northbound shelter

Eddystone is a very simple station, with two small shelters and an asphalt platform. 

Seriously, SEPTA? 

Most people don't end up realizing that these validators even work because the screen is broken, which makes a lot of people fail to tap in/out. 

One of the times I was using this station, I hurt my knee and sprained my ankle due to how low the emergency middle platforms are. 

Benches, schedule, and map

Hill

Stairs

At least one working validator

Other shelter

Inside of shelter

The end of the southbound platform 

Station entrance, driveway, and parking

The entire station from afar

Silverliner V train going north
 
I think it should be pretty easy to understand why this isn't a very good train station. 

Bus Connections

Bus stop


There are two bus connections at Eddystone:
 
  • 37 -  Chester Transit Center to Broad-Snyder: This bus goes along PA-291 between South Philadelphia (Snyder Station on the Broad Street Line) and Chester Transit Center via Southwest Philadelphia, the Philadelphia International Airport, and Tinicum Township. Only about one trip every thirty minutes goes past the Airport. Sometimes it can be as few as one trip per hour.
  • 114 -  Wawa Station to Darby Transit Center: This is essentially two buses stiched together. One bus goes from Chester Transit Center to Wawa Station and Lima via Aston, the other goes from Chester Transit Center to Darby Transit Center via Chester Pike. This bus runs about once every half hour or so, though there are a lot of odd frequency gaps in the schedule. 

Points of Interest Near Eddington station

    Eddystone station is an anomaly. On both sides (though south of the station it's not immediately apparent) there's dense rowhome housing. Despite this, the station has little to no ridership. This might have to do with a mixture of factors: Eddystone for one is poorer than a lot of other Regional Rail towns, which often directly correlates to ridership after a certain point. What's probably more likely is a mix of other factors: much of the working population in Eddystone work jobs that don't correlate well to regional rail ridership, and the availability of parallel bus routes to the places people would be willing to go that are much cheaper. Eddystone faces the same problem that many of the Philadelphian inner-city stations faced, that were only remedied by SEPTA adding zone 1 regional rail stations to the transpass. The towns along the Wilmington-Newark line in Delaware County don't really get to have that solution, due to the distance they are from Philadelphia itself.  
    There also isn't much drawing people to Eddystone itself either. Much of the town is residential, with the rest being large factories and warehouses, or a large plaza with a Walmart and Shop-Rite in it. Eddystone is also generally a very racist place, all things considered. 

Statistics


Name: Eddystone
Agency: SEPTA
Line(s): Wilmington-Newark Line
Locality: Eddystone
Municipality: Eddystone
County: Delaware
State: Pennsylvania
Ridership: 20 per average weekday (2024)

Amenity Checklist


Accessibility: ×
Bicycle parking: ×
Clean: ×
Connections to other transit routes: ✓
Easy passage to either side: ×
Existence is justifiable: ×
Fare Payment Kiosks/TVMs: ×  (only on one side)
Good Wayfinding: ✓
Lighting: ✓
Maps: ✓
Near places people are: ✓
Adequate Parking: ×
Safe to use: ×
Shelters: ✓
Seating: ✓
Station in Good Condition: ×
Train Departure/Arrival Info (countdown clocks): ×
Updated/Useful Signage:  ×
 
Final Verdict: 1/10

Station Directory

--------PENNSYLVANIA--------
--------Philadelphia County--------
''''''''Center City Zone''''''''
Jefferson
Suburban
30th Street
Penn Medicine
--------Delaware County--------
''''''''Zone 1''''''''
''''''''Zone 2''''''''
Curtis Park
Sharon Hill
Folcroft
Glenolden
Norwood
Prospect Park-Moore
''''''''Zone 3''''''''
Ridley Park
Crum Lynne 
Eddystone
Chester Transportation Center
Marcus Hook
--------DELAWARE--------
--------New Castle County--------
Claymont Transportation Center
Churchmans Crossing
Newark  
  
 

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